Uncategorized

The EB-2 and EB-3, two employment-based visas, are the most sought-after visas.  This year, there were extra employment-based visas rolled over from unused family-based visas from the COVID-19 Pandemic due to worldwide embassy closures.

EB-2 visas carry an advanced degree requirement, meaning the beneficiary must hold a US master’s degree or higher or its equivalent.  However, for beneficiaries with only a bachelor’s degree, there is still an option to meet eligibility requirements.  Since EB-2 visas carry significantly shorter processing times, if the option to pursue this visa is viable, beneficiaries and their sponsors should opt for it.  Here’s how:

USCIS considers five years of progressive work experience FOLLOWING the attainment of a bachelor’s degree to be the equivalent of a master’s degree.  That means if the beneficiary earned a US bachelor’s degree or its equivalent, and THEN endeavored five years of work experience in which they took on more responsibility and the nature of their work became increasingly complex and specialized, they would meet EB-2 education qualifications. 

If this is your situation, or your employee or client’s situation, go for EB-2!  However, there are still some pesky details along the way to be aware of:

• The five years of progressive work experience following attainment of a bachelor’s degree must have been completed BEFORE the sponsor files the LCA, and in most cases none of the post-degree work experience can have been performed for the sponsoring employer.
• If the bachelor’s degree was earned outside of the United States, a credential evaluation will be required to show the US academic value of the degree.  Since the bachelor’s degree must be a single source to meet EB-2 standards, progressive work experience CANNOT be combined with a three-year bachelor’s degree to meet this equivalency.  If this is the case, twelve years of progressive work experience can be converted into a full bachelor’s degree with an evaluation written by a professor authorized to grant college credit for work experience.  This equivalency must be FOLLOWED BY an additional five years of progressive work experience. 
• The offered position must require a master’s degree or higher to meet EB-2 qualifications.
• The listing for the position must clearly state that a master’s degree or higher OR a bachelor’s degree followed by five years of progressive work experience in the field is the minimum educational qualification for the job. 

For EB-2, the advanced degree option is one of three ways to qualify.  The second way to qualify is through Exceptional Ability by meeting three of seven criteria as specified by USCIS, and the third is through a National Interest Waiver. 

If you, or if your employee or client qualifies for an EB-2 visa, let us review your case before you file to make sure the education is in order.  At CCI TheDegreePeople.com we work with professors authorized to grant college credit for work experience, and all of our evaluations are written uniquely to fit the education, the employment, the visa requirements, and the work experience. 

For a free review of your case visit www.ccifree.com.  We will respond in 4 hours or less.

Sheila Danzig

Sheila Danzig is the director of CCI TheDegreePeople.com.  Sheila specializes in overturning RFEs and Denials for work visas.

In total, around 484,000 H-1B electronic registrations were submitted and 127,600 were selected in the lottery in March of 2022.  Those selected were invited to submit complete H-1B petitions.  USCIS selects a buffer number of extra registrations to account for those who opt to not submit petitions and those whose applications are denied.  Last year, there were three rounds of H-1B lotteries to solicit enough completed petitions to reach the annual H-1B cap.  This lead many to anticipate a second lottery this year.

On August 23, 2022, USCIS officially announced that there will be no second lottery for FY2023 H-1B cap-subject visas.  All 65,000 regular and 20,000 advanced degree visas have been awarded, and applicants not selected will have to wait until next year.

However, non-cap subject H-1B petitions are still being received and approved.  If you, or if your employee or client is in one of these situations that apply to both cap-subject and cap-exempt initial petitions, you don’t have to worry about a lottery:

• H-1B transfers wherein the beneficiary changes employers
• H-1B extensions wherein the beneficiary extends their visa beyond the three-year period or based on a Green Card situation
• H-1B amendments regarding employment terms or duties changes
• H-1B concurrent employment.

Beneficiaries with advanced degrees working in specialty occupations for the following employer entities are also cap-exempt:

• Institutions of higher education
• Nonprofit research organizations
• Government research organizations
• Nonprofit entities affiliated with or related to an institution of higher education.

If you, or if your employee or client is not subject the H-1B cap, you will still need to prove that all H-1B eligibility requirements are met to ensure you don’t run into any approval issues that impact the employee start date, or the beneficiary’s ability to remain in and work in the United States. 

Let us review your case for free before you file.  Visit www.ccifree.com and we will respond in 4 hours or less.

Sheila Danzig

Sheila Danzig is the director of CCI TheDegreePeople.com.  Sheila specializes in overturning RFEs and Denials for work visas.

One of the main H-1B eligibility requirements is that beneficiaries hold a bachelor’s degree or higher or its equivalent in the field of the H-1B job.  However, highly skilled individuals often have non-traditional educational pathways and many qualified hires do not have any college credit at all.

Does this mean no chance at a visa?  Of course not!  But it will take extra steps and a good deal of USCIS handholding to make your case.

USCIS accepts that three years of progressive work experience in the field of the H-1B job is equivalent to one year of college credit in the associated major.  Progressive work experience means that education took place on the job as evidenced by the nature of the work becoming increasingly complex and specialized, with the employee taking on progressively more responsibility.  A professor authorized to grant college credit for work experience can write this work experience conversion.  To account for all four years of a bachelor’s degree, the beneficiary must have twelve years of progressive work experience to meet this academic equivalency.

If this is your situation, or your employee or client’s situation, you will need to include a credential evaluation that includes this work experience conversion with your initial petition.  This will clearly show USCIS that the beneficiary has the educational equivalent of a bachelor’s degree in the field of the H-1B job in terms of US academic value.

At CCI TheDegreePeople.com, each credential evaluation is written uniquely to fit the job, the education, the work experience, and the visa of each client.  We work with professors authorized to grant college credit for progressive work experience to write the credential evaluation you need for visa approval.

Let us review your case for free.  Visit www.ccifree.com and we will respond in four hours or less.

Sheila Danzig

Sheila Danzig is the director of CCI TheDegreePeople.com.  Sheila specializes in overturning RFEs and Denials for work visas.

While RFE rates have declined from recent highs, H-1B applicants are still running into trouble with regards to specialty occupation, wage level, and employer-employee relationship.  That is because these three eligibility requirements are still under attack with proposed rule changes to restrict them.  In the past, USCIS has been caught and convicted of illegally rejecting petitions that meet these current eligibility requirements.  While these lawsuits have deterred extreme instances of illegal adjudication, these areas continue to be precarious terrain for applicants.

The best way to respond to the Triple RFE is to tackle wage level and specialty occupation together, and then address employer-employee relationship issues.

First, gather documentation regarding the specialty occupation showing that the employer has a history of hiring only employees to the position in question with a bachelor’s degree or higher in the field.  Include the ad for the job showing the minimum bachelor’s degree requirement, as well as ads for the same position in parallel companies within the field that show this minimum educational requirements.  Then, include a detailed breakdown of the duties and responsibilities of the job highlighting the required skills and knowledge learned through completion of bachelor’s degree curriculum in the field.  Include a detailed breakdown of the factors that went into setting the wage level appropriately, including starting salaries for the same position in parallel companies in your geographical area.  Then, obtain an expert opinion letter written by an expert with extensive experience working in the field of the H-1B job to lend weight to your case based on this additional evidence and documentation.  This letter should address both eligibility issues.

Second, address the employer-employee relationship issue.  Jobs that require the H-1B employee to perform work by client contract such as consultants, or that require them to work at third-party worksites are vulnerable to employer-employee relationship issues.  The goal here is to show that the employer will be able to control the work of the H-1B employee throughout the duration of the H-1B visa period, even at third-party worksites.  Include a complete itinerary of the work the H-1B employee will perform for the entire three-year H-1B visa period, including client/customer contact information.  Then, clearly explain how the employer will be able to control the work of the H-1B employee offsite.

Since they emerged, CCI TheDegreePeople.com has been getting Triple RFEs overturned.  We work with experts in every H-1B field with the right experience who can write opinion letters to address both specialty occupation and wage level issues in one letter.  We know what additional documentation USCIS is looking for to answer the questions they have regarding eligibility.  Let us help you answer the Triple RFE or any other complex RFE you may be facing.

For a free review of your case visit www.ccifree.com.  We will respond in 4 hours or less.

Sheila Danzig

Sheila Danzig is the director of CCI TheDegreePeople.com. Sheila specializes in overturning RFEs and Denials for work visas.

Green Card processing is a long and frustrating process, notorious for excessive wait times that can last decades.  In 2021, only 65,452 family preference Green Cards were issued of the 226,000 available Green Cards.  In May of this year, the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders recommended steps to USCIS to reduce the Green Card backlog, which was voted for unanimously.

Recommendations would reduce processing time for family-based green cards, DACA renewals, and other Green Card applications to within six months.

Of course, this would require a near-complete overhaul of the existing system.  Establishing new timeline goals, streamlining processes, removing repeating steps, and automating manual approval mechanisms are included in these recommendations.  Additionally, USCIS must improve internal reporting systems and dashboards.  Internal processes by which USCIS processes Green Cards need to be reworked and additional officers must be hired.

The initiative is proposed to take effect starting August 2022, with the goal of increasing interview processing by 100% and expanding Green Card interviews and decisions by 150% in the first three months.

The system is far overdue for this much-needed overhaul.  We will continue to follow how these recommendations impact actual visa processing times. 

Sheila Danzig

Sheila Danzig is the director of CCI TheDegreePeople.com.  Sheila specializes in overturning RFEs and Denials for work visas.

If you submitted an H-1B petition and have not received a response, you are not alone.  USCIS has announced they are experiencing backlogs and staffing shortages.  In an effort to move the adjudication process along, they will be transferring certain petitions from the Vermont Service Center to the California Service Center.

In addition to processing cap-subject petitions, adjudicators are also processing petitions for H-1B extensions, which are essential for current H-1B workers to be able to continue to work in the United States.

Alongside processing delays, this month the issue of needing more annual H-1B visas was brought before the Senate Judiciary Committee by US Congresswoman Mia Love.  She stated, “in 2005, 85,000 visas were available.  Today, nearly 20 years later, 85,000 visas are available.  There are many promising options for expanding skilled immigration.” 

The need for expanding the H-1B program is nothing new, but hopefully there will be some movement on the issue.  This year, USCIS received 483,927 H-1B registrations.  Of those registrations, 127,600 were initially selected to file complete petitions to fulfill the 85,000 H-1B visas.  United States technology industry has become dependent on the H-1B visa program due to the shortage of US workers with advanced technology skills to accommodate this rapidly growing field.  Companies attempted to hire nearly one-half million foreign workers for FY2023.  The need for H-1B program expansion is clear; what is unclear is how much longer it will take to actually expand the program.

If your H-1B registration was selected in the lottery and you have not submitted a completed petition yet, do not delay!  Registrations are due June 30, 2022.  However, don’t let the pressure of the deadline cause you to submit a petition lacking in vital supporting evidence, such as a credential evaluation or expert opinion letter.  At CCI TheDegreePeople.com, we offer affordable rush delivery options around the clock to meet your needs.

For a free review of your case visit www.ccifree.com.  We will respond in 4 hours or less.

Sheila Danzig

Sheila Danzig is the director of CCI TheDegreePeople.com.  Sheila specializes in overturning RFEs and Denials for work visas.

At the end of March, 115,217 of the over 300,000 H-1B electronic registrants were selected to file complete petitions by June 30, 2022.  That deadline is coming right up!  Don’t let the pressure stand in the way of filing an airtight petition that covers common approval issues which can lead to Denials, RFEs, and delayed employee start dates.

At CCI TheDegreePeople.com, we offer affordable rush delivery options for expert opinion letters and credential evaluations.  These two additional components are essential to preventing specialty occupation, wage level, and education issues. 

An expert opinion letter written by an expert in the field of the H-1B job with extensive field experience who has held leadership positions within the field can address specialty occupation and wage level issues.  USCIS has been wary to outright approve visas for jobs that normally but do not ALWAYS require a bachelor’s degree or higher minimum educational requirement in the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook.  USCIS has also called level one wages into question.  An expert opinion letter can address both of these issues before any adjudication problems arise.

A credential evaluation written uniquely to address the beneficiary’s education, training, and work experience, the job, H-1B requirements, and USCIS approval trends is key to filling in any gaps between the education the H-1B beneficiary has and the educational value needed for USCIS to approve the visa.  If the education is ANYTHING BUT a US bachelor’s degree or higher in the exact field of the H-1B job a credential evaluation is needed to show the beneficiary has the required degree’s educational equivalent in terms of US academic value.

At CCI TheDegreePeople.com, we work with difficult H-1B cases every year and understand the need for speed when it comes down to the wire.  We offer a range of affordable rush delivery options to accommodate your filing schedule.  Let us review your case for free.  Visit www.ccifree.com and we will respond in 4 hours or less. 

Sheila Danzig

Sheila Danzig is the director of CCI TheDegreePeople.com.  Sheila specializes in overturning RFEs and Denials for work visas.

Whether you’re filing the initial H-1B petition or facing an education RFE, there are many cases in which the beneficiary will need to include a credential evaluation.  Here are some reasons why:

• No college or incomplete college
• Degree earned outside of the United States
• Degree is a three-year degree
• Generalized degree
• Degree in a major that does not match the H-1B job.

If the beneficiary’s education is ANYTHING BUT a US bachelor’s degree or higher in the exact field of the H-1B job, you will need to include a credential evaluation that clearly shows USCIS that their education and work experience comprises the equivalency of the required degree in terms of US academic value.

However, finding the right agency to write this credential evaluation can be murky business because the industry is not regulated.  Often, an agency will write a cookie-cutter evaluation that does not address the unique situation of the H-1B beneficiary.  An effective evaluation is written uniquely to the situation, taking the job, the education, past work experience, the visa, and USCIS approval trends all into account.

How do you know when you’ve found the right credential evaluation agency?  Look for these GREEN flags:

• They are members of a professional organization that holds its members to standards of excellence.
• They are great communicators, responding promptly to text, email, phone, and social media.
• They offer a free consultation and reasonable prices even for rush delivery.
• They ask about the job, the education, and the visa.
• They provide references when asked.

At CCI The DegreePeople.com, we check all the boxes.  We have an over 90% rate for successfully overturning education RFEs and all of our credential evaluations are written uniquely by international education experts.

For a free review of your case, visit www.ccifree.com.  We will respond in 4 hours or less.

Sheila Danzig

Sheila Danzig is the director of CCI TheDegreePeople.com.  Sheila specializes in overturning RFEs and Denials for work visas.

Specialty occupation issues have triggered barriers to H-1B visa approval for about half of the past decade and continue to be a statutory target for restrictions on the H-1B program.  Beneficiaries, petitioners, and immigration attorneys have put countless hours of work into fighting back against these restrictions and holding USCIS accountable for illegally denying H-1B visas, and this has had a significant impact on RFE and Denial rates. 

However, H-1B petitions are still ground zero for holding these restrictions at bay to maintain a robust H-1B visa program to keep the United States economically competitive and continue to attract bright minds from around the world to US universities and the work force.  Since Specialty Occupation issues are a pinch point, it is important to understand the nuanced requirements and provide documentation that multiple options are accounted for in the initial petition.

USCIS states, “The occupation requires: Theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge; and Attainment of a bachelor’s or higher degree in the specific specialty (or its equivalent) as a minimum for entry into the occupation in the United States.”

One of four criteria must be met to prove the H-1B job is a specialty occupation:

1. The position normally requires a bachelor’s degree or higher as the minimum educational requirement for entry into the position.  Falling back on this requirement has proven dicey for applicants because USCIS has been adjudicating “normally” as “always,” making the exception the norm.  If the job’s entry in the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook states that the position does not ALWAYS require a bachelor’s degree or higher minimum, USCIS is likely to issue an RFE instead of approving the visa.  This is why at CCI TheDegreePeople.com we recommend covering your bases and providing documentation that one of the following criteria are also met.
2. A bachelor’s degree or higher minimum educational requirement for entry into the position is the industry standard as evidence by hiring practices for parallel positions, or this job is uniquely complex so as to require an advanced degree. 
3. A bachelor’s degree or higher minimum educational requirement for this position is a consistent hiring practice for this employer as evidenced by proof of past hiring.
4. Specific duties unique to this job are specialized and complex as to require an advanced degree minimum. 

Provide additional evidence and documentation to prove that at least two of these requirements are met and an expert opinion letter to lend weight to the case.  This letter must be written based on documentation the petitioner provides of industry standard and past employer hiring practices, and a detailed breakdown of the duties and responsibilities of the job highlighting how specialized skills and knowledge acquired through advanced degree attainment apply.  This expert must have extensive experience working directly in the field of the H-1B job, and have held leadership roles wherein they made hiring decisions regarding this position and supporting positions. 

At CCI TheDegreePeople.com we work with experts in every H-1B field.  Let us review your case for free before you file to prevent Specialty Occupation issues.  Visit www.ccifree.com and we will respond in 4 hours or less.

Filing period is well underway for the 127,600 H-1B registrants selected in the first lottery of FY2023.  This March, USCIS received 483,927 electronic registrations, significantly increased from the 308,613 registrations submitted last year. 

A larger number of registrations were selected in the lottery this year, as FY2022 required three rounds of lotteries to meet the annual H-1B visa cap.  However, this higher number of selections may indicate a higher RFE and Denial rate is on the horizon.  If your visa, or if your employee or client’s visa is not approved outright, that means more time, more money, more headache, and possibly a delayed employee start date resulting in workflow hindrances. 

Education issues are perennial problems H-1B applicants face.  The following situations regarding the beneficiary’s education are likely to trigger adjudication issues:

• Degree earned outside of the United States
• Three-year bachelor’s degree
• Degree earned from an unaccredited institution
• Incomplete college
• No college
• Generalized degree – no specialization
• Specialized degree but in a field that is not related to the H-1B job
• Specialized degree in a field related to the H-1B job, but not an exact match

If any of these educational situations apply, you need to show USCIS that the beneficiary has the academic equivalent to a US bachelor’s degree in the field of the H-1B job in terms of US academic value.  You must do this in the initial petition filing to prevent education issues standing in between the H-1B employee and their visa.

Here’s how:

Include a credential evaluation in the petition written to uniquely address the beneficiary’s education, training, and work experience, the H-1B job, H-1B eligibility requirements, and USCIS approval trends.  This means evaluating college course content, non-collegiate professional training, and progressive work.  Progressive work experience is work in which education occurred on the job as evidenced by the beneficiary taking on progressively more specialized duties and responsibilities as time progressed.  USCIS accepts that three years of progressive work experience is the equivalent of one year of college credit in the major of the job.  That means missing years of college can be accounted for with a work experience conversion.  This conversion must be written by a professor authorized to grant college credit for work experience. 

Through detailed analysis of coursework, work experience conversion, and citation of precedent decisions and other supporting documentation, a credential evaluation will effectively hold USCIS’ hand and walk them through the academic value of the beneficiary’s education and work experience.

At CCI TheDegreePeople.com, we work with professors authorized to grant college credit for work experience, and each credential evaluation is written uniquely to fit the situation.  Let us review your case for free to identify any education issues and address them effectively BEFORE you file.

For a free review of your case visit www.ccifree.com.  We will respond in four hours or less.

Sheila Danzig

Sheila Danzig is the director of CCI TheDegreePeople.com.  Sheila specializes in overturning RFEs and Denials for work visas.